As of this Monday (7), those who have contracts signed up to 2017 with creditor financial institutions for Student Financing (FIES) can request debt refinancing. By law, banks will be required to grant discounts that can vary between 12% and 92%. The outstanding balance can be paid in up to 150 installments, depending on the situation.
The program rules were defined by Provisional Measure 1090/22. The norm was converted into law by the National Congress and came into force last Tuesday (1st). Currently, at least two million Fies contracts are in the settlement phase, with a debt balance of R$ 87.2 billion. The current default rate is 51.7%.
Who is entitled?
Under the rules, any student with a student loan agreement signed up to the year 2017 can benefit from the measure. The conditions and the discount percentage vary according to the profile of each student and the delay in payment:
Students enrolled in the Cadastro Único para Programas Sociais (CadÚnico) or who have been approved for Emergency Aid will receive a 92% discount on the total debt amount, which, in this case, may be paid in 10 installments. The estimate is that 548,000 students with a delay of more than 360 days in payment of Fies fall into this category.
For those who have not made payments for more than 360 days, the expected discount is 86.5% on the outstanding balance. For students enrolled in CadÚnico or who are beneficiaries of Emergency Aid, the discount will be 92%. In addition, the debt balance can be paid in up to 10 installments.
Another situation is that of students who have debts that are 90 to 360 days late. In this case, the debtor will have 12% of the outstanding balance, exemption from interest and fines and payment in up to 150 installments, also with full forgiveness of fines and delays that have been applied before the refinancing.
How to renegotiate?
At Caixa Econômica, as of today, the expectation is that up to 800,000 students with an average debt of R$35,000 will renegotiate their contracts 100% digitally. Interested parties can consult the site from the bank to make the request.
After confirming the framework in the rules and simulating the renegotiation, it is necessary to generate a slip for payment of the first installment or settlement in a single installment.
At Banco do Brasil, more than 500,000 students have their Fies in arrears. To join the renegotiation through the Bank’s App, simply access the Debt Solutions option and click on Fies Renegotiation. Through the tool, the student will be able to check if he is part of the target audience, the options available for debt settlement or installment, the discounts granted, as well as the entry values and other installments.
The minimum amount of the installment is R$ 200. The promise is that the name will be removed from the restrictive credit registers from the payment corresponding to the first installment
Delay
After signing the Fies refinancing contract amendment, in the event of non-payment of three installments of the debt renegotiation, the student will lose the right to refinancing and the initial discount applied will be cancelled. For situations of delay in the payment of installments, late payment interest of 1% per month, or fraction, levied on the amount of the installment in arrears and a fine of 2% on the total of the remaining installments is applied.
